Multiple ply laminated embossed paper products are typically of two types, "nested" and "pillowed", each of which has substantially greater bulk than nonembossed multiple ply products. When a tissue or towel sheet is provided with an embossed pattern, projecting land areas and recessed areas are produced corresponding to the land areas and recessed areas of the embossing roll. A "nested" product results when projecting land areas of a first web are aligned in the recessed areas between two land areas of a second web, whereas a "pillowed" sheet results when the projecting land areas of both first and second webs are placed adjacent one another with the recessed areas of the two sheets creating a relatively large void between adjacent land areas.
The primary problem associated with multi-ply embossed paper webs is that, traditionally, the plies have been combined at the nip between the two steel embossing rolls. This metal-to-metal contact at the embossing roll nip has resulted in excessive wear on the embossing rolls requiring frequent and costly repairs or replacements. This problem was recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,225, Nystrand, wherein the plies are combined between one of the steel embossing rolls and a rubber covered "marrying roll", which permits the nip between the two embossing rolls to be run open, reducing wear on and extending greatly the useful life of the embossing rolls.
However, the process of the Nystrand patent is useful only for producing a "nested" type product, since the solid surface marrying roll would substantially debulk a pillowed product. A pillowed multi-ply product is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,905, Thomas, however this method suffers from the aforementioned embossing roll wear problem at the combiner nip. A solid surface marrying roll as disclosed in the Nystrand patent utilized with this process would result in approximately 50% of the laminated sheet bulk being removed during the embossing stage. Therefore, there is a need for an embossing roll which will permit the embossing of pillowed as well as nested multi-ply webs without debulking the web to any appreciable extent.